Mission Statement

As part of the federal government’s National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Eye Institute’s mission is to “conduct and support research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to blinding eye diseases, visual disorders, mechanisms of visual function, preservation of sight, and the special health problems and requirements of the blind.”

Eye Health and Safety

Fun Stuff

Cool Eye Tricks

Ready to try a do-it-yourself optical illusion? Check out the games below.

What you need: A piece of paper

1.

Roll up a piece of paper in the shape of a tube.

2.

Hold the tube up in front of one eye. Keep both eyes open and look forward.

3.

Take your free hand (the one not holding the tube), and hold it up in front of the eye that is not looking through the tube. Keep this hand open with your palm facing your face. Place your open hand against the side of the tube.

What you should see: It should look like there’s a hole in your free hand. The objects in the distance should be visible through this hole.

What happened? Your brain takes information from both of your eyes to make one image. One eye sees a hole, and the other sees a hand. When the brain adds the images together, you see a hand with a hole in it.

What you need: Two pencils

1.

Close one of your eyes.

2.

Hold the two pencils horizontally out in front of your face and try to touch the pencils ends together, keeping one eye closed.

3.

Now, try it again with both eyes open.

What you should experience: It should be harder to touch the pencil ends together with one eye closed than it is with both eyes open.

What happened?Having two eyes helps you judge depth and distance. Can you think of some other activities that would be hard with just one eye?

Ask a ScientistWhat do your eyes do when you’re sleeping? Find out with Dr. Wiggs.

Did You Know?

A service dog can serve as a guide for someone who is blind or visually impaired. Service dogs go through a long training process before they’re adopted. They also wear a special harness, which shows you they’re hard at work.